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Kate Winslet Turns Down Help For Kids' Sake

Splash News Online

For Kate Winslet, being a hands-on mom is a source of pride. While many of her peers outsource domestic duties to housekeepers and full-time nannies, the 33-year-old actress and mother-of-two usually opts to go it alone with husband Sam Mendes. “There are things I could implement within my life that would probably make it easier,” she notes in a recent interview with Hello! “But I deliberately don’t do it because if I did, I would be living that movie star existence that I really try and resist.”

“I mean, it’s very tempting to have a nanny and live in a gated community and have a chef – I’d love to have a few dinners cooked for me. But I don’t want that for my children. When they’re older, if people say say to them, ‘Did you have a chef?’ I want them to be shocked by the question.”

Shortly after the interview was conducted, however, Kate relented and hired a part-time nanny according to the UK’s Daily Mail. The actress and her husband — married since 2003 — often alternate acting and directing jobs but their collaboration on Revolutionary Road meant that Mia Honey, 8 ½, and Joe Alfie, 5, were along for the ride, much to their chagrin!

“The children were with us the whole time,” Kate reveals. “It drove them crazy because usually one of us is with them while the other is working; ‘The fact that both of us were out from six in the morning until eight at night was frustrating for them.” The end of the process was celebrated by all, Kate adds.

“‘They were almost as excited as we were when the film was coming out. And they got to see a lot of [co-star] Leo DiCaprio again so it was very, very sweet.”

Mia is Kate’s daughter with ex-husband Jim Threapleton.

Source: Hello! via Daily Mail

Jill Scott Says Single Motherhood is 'Tough'

George Holz for PEOPLE for use on CBB

Motherhood for Jill Scott has brought its fair share of surprises; Fortunately, the newly single actress is taking it all in stride. In a new interview with Essence, the 37-year-old admits that the stories she was told of smooth, pain-free labors were far from the truth in her case. “I know my experience isn’t everyone’s but I believe people need to be realistic when sharing their stories about their pregnancies and births,” she states.

For Jill, a 36-hour labor filled with severe pain had her checking out — at least mentally! “During labor I felt like I needed to put the fire out,” she recalls. “Everybody kept telling me the pain wasn’t going to last forever, but after 20 hours of it, I left the building. I felt like I was on the ceiling, looking down at myself like, ‘[Dang], girl, you still in labor?’” Noting that the “pain continued … for at least three weeks,” Jill and her baby boy Jett Hamilton — named after a black gemstone “because I thought my beautiful baby is a gem” — celebrated the big homecoming with some much-deserved rest.

“When he arrived I held him in my arms for about an hour and then went to sleep because I was simply exhausted.”

Placing a positive spin on the delivery, Jill now finds the ordeal to be her main motivation in life. “After that experience, anytime I have reservations and think I can’t do anything, I remind myself that I survived the birth of my child,” she laughs.

Sadly, shortly after welcoming their first child, Jill and Lil John Roberts called off their engagement of one year. “He was there and for a couple of days afterwards while I stayed in the hospital, but John and I are no longer together,” she shares. “When you have a baby you’re dealing with a lot of emotions and I don’t know how much of it had to do with us breaking up, but it happens.” That said, the two are completely committed to Jett and plan to raise him together.

“We definitely love our son and we are co-parenting and working on being friends. I have hopes for [Jett] and I’m sure his father will do his part as well.”

Accepting that “it is what it is,” Jill, who was raised in a single-parent household, admits she often seeks strength from her close friends, actress Mo’Nique and singer Erykah Badu. “My heart and prayers go out to all single moms because it’s tough, and I can’t imagine any teenager dealing with a baby and all those hormones raging,” says Jill. “I can afford to have this child at 37 because I have a support system and I can talk to my girls … but I don’t understand how any mother does it alone.”

Click below to read about Jill’s favorite moments with her son, and to see if she’d like more children.

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Julianne Moore Grateful For Flexibility Of Acting, Writing Careers

Donato Sardella/Courtesy of Ralph Lauren

When it comes to balancing work and motherhood, Julianne Moore admits she has the best of both worlds. “I think that what we’re looking for as parents is a certain type of flexibility,” she muses in a new interview with WowOWow.com. “The nice thing about the stuff that I’ve done is that it does afford me plenty of time to do both.” Although she is grateful to be able to spend extended amounts of time with husband Bart Freundlich and the couple’s two children Caleb, 11 ½, and Liv Helen, 7, nurturing dual careers as an actress and author is still a struggle — but you won’t find Julianne complaining.

“Sometimes you feel like, ‘Oh my gosh, how will I do this?’ And you don’t always do everything well. But one of the things I do say is that it’s a very nice problem to have. The fact that I do have this wonderful, beautiful family, and work that I enjoy – I’m lucky to have the problem.”

As she has said previously, Caleb and Liv show “very little interest” in her work. “They really are interested in you simply as a parent,” she says. Case in point? Recently Julianne was working on a re-write of her third book in the Freckleface Strawberry series, and she sought Caleb’s input.  ”I said, ‘Hey honey, will you just do me a favor and take a look at it?’” she recalled. “And he said, ‘Yeah, sure Mommy.’ So he starts to read it, and I’m watching him, and there’s a TV screen right above the computer screen, and his eyes start to drift up to the screen.”

“So I said, “You know what, you don’t have to read it.” And he said, ‘Umm … maybe some other time.’ So, you know, he could care less. I think they’re proud of me, and they love me, but I’m [just] their mother.”

Click below to read about how Caleb and Liv handle bullying.

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